FERGIE'S BUDGIE COMING TO U.S.

The Duchess of York is out to land some Yankee dollars with her children's book character, Budgie the Little Helicopter.

Budgie, star of four children's books, is the subject of a major licensing campaign aiming to put him on children's wear, T-shirts, toys and eventually television.

The duchess' licensing agent in New York City hopes Budgie will be as big as Thomas the Tank Engine.

The duchess, aka Sarah Ferguson, aka Fergie, published the first two Budgie books in 1989, followed by two more in 1990.

Since her separation from Prince Andrew last summer she has been raising her public profile in an apparent effort to recapture her popularity with the British and has said she will concentrate on writing children's and art books and on her work for charity.

The books are distributed in England and this country by Simon & Schuster.

In October 1992 Sleepy Kids PLC, a London company that owns the worldwide rights to Budgie, appointed Launey, Hachmann & Harris in New York as U.S. licensing and marketing agents.

Robert Launey, president of the U.S. firm, says a marketing campaign has been developed, and apparel and toy companies are being interviewed for the licensing rights, although no deals have been signed yet.

"We are at the early stage," Launey says. "We are contacting people in the toy industry; then we will initiate the children's apparel."

But he added, "This isn't just a children's image; I wouldn't be surprised to see Budgie T-shirts on adults."

An animated TV series for Budgie is also in the works, to be produced here by Murakami Wolf, which created the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles series. So far, it has not been picked up by a network, Launey says.